Exchange rate means reduced refund - what can be done?
Oct 29, 2020, 1:20 am
#46
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
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You did have a choice. You could have called the US number or booked through a US channel. But you booked through the BA website which charges and refunds the currency of point of origin. It’s neither BA’s fault, nor your credit card’s. It is a natural effect of currency movements.
Oct 29, 2020, 1:49 am
#47
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Stratford upon Avon
Programs: Amex Platinum UK and related Hotel loyalty programs
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I do wonder about whether this is correct. Under the T&Cs under which I booked from the USA, it is clear that the circumstances warrant a full refund. BA certainly has a US bank account. That it chooses to bill me in (what to me is) a foreign currency is not, I would suggest, a factor in terms of my rights.
Another way to look at it would you be refunding them the difference of the exchange rate had worked in your favour.
Oct 29, 2020, 2:17 am
#48
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: BAEC Silver, Volare Executive / Skyteam Elite+
Posts: 672
I guess it's been done to death, but unfortunately in this case (and swings and roundabouts in others - it works in both directions) it sounds like you bought something in GBP then got refunded in GBP, so I think the airline's really done all I'd expect it to as you got all the GBP's returned in full. Whether you 'bought' the GBP with USD, gold bullion or bitcoin isn't really something they'd have visibility on or anything to do with.
If it's any consolation, I suspect most of us have been on either side of currency movements and I'd expect them to broadly balance out over a lifetime
If it's any consolation, I suspect most of us have been on either side of currency movements and I'd expect them to broadly balance out over a lifetime
Oct 29, 2020, 2:31 am
#49
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Stratford upon Avon
Programs: Amex Platinum UK and related Hotel loyalty programs
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Maybe the OPs card issuer charged some kind of transaction fee too
Oct 29, 2020, 3:20 am
#50
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Funny one this, I’m usually always on the side of the consumer against the faceless corporations, but in this instance, I don’t really see why either the merchant or the card company should be on the hook for currency fluctuations. When you pay in a foreign currency, you accept the rates as they are, knowing they can change - caveat emptor.
Oct 29, 2020, 3:25 am
#51
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Oct 29, 2020, 4:06 am
#52
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Posts: 1,390
I know little about currency exchange, however there is a buy and a sell rate. Xe shows the average. When you buy a ticket in £, you are effectively buying £. When you refund the ticket, you are selling those same £. Even if you did this immediately, you would still lose on the transaction.
Oct 29, 2020, 9:09 am
#53
Join Date: Jun 2016
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I know little about currency exchange, however there is a buy and a sell rate. Xe shows the average. When you buy a ticket in £, you are effectively buying £. When you refund the ticket, you are selling those same £. Even if you did this immediately, you would still lose on the transaction.